PM GIVES LESSON ON VALUES
Dr M says people need to work hard, seek knowledge and keep to their word
HARD work, knowledge and keeping to one’s word are quintessential values to achieve success, said Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.
Dr Mahathir gave Malaysians a lesson in history to remind them about the importance of inculcating these values to be on the right path.
Reflecting on his own achievements, Dr Mahathir said he managed to get only moderate results for his then Malaysian Certificate of Education (MCE) examination, but he pressed on because he was afraid of being considered a failure.
“I was not the best student... I only got 3As for my MCE.
“In Singapore, some of my batchmates had up to 9As.
“I was so scared when I heard about their achievements.
“Some of them heard about my scores and they told me ‘go pack your bags, this is no place for you’.
“I was, however, too embarrassed to go back and because I realised I was weak. I worked harder, I read my textbooks at least 10 times.”
Dr Mahathir said this in his keynote address on the
“Malaysian Resurrection as Asian Tiger” in conjunction with the Asian Tiger Convention at Dewan Agong Tuanku Canselor, Universiti Teknologi Mara here last night.
He stressed the importance of keeping to one’s word and urged Malaysians to take a page from the Japanese book.
He said the Japanese worked hard, constantly sought knowledge and kept to their word.
“In those days, when a Japanese failed to fulfil a promise, he would feel so ashamed that he would take his own life.
“We saw this happen to Japanese soldiers... they committed harakiri (suicide) when they lost the war.”
Dr Mahathir said Malaysians should not be ashamed to admit their mistakes and, instead, take responsibility for their actions.
He said one should have a sense of shame when they failed to keep their promise and not walk around like they had done nothing wrong.